Clutch.



E. A. EWING.

CLUTCH.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 21, 1912.

l, 120,044.' Patented Decf8', 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.l

E. A. EWING.

CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED SBPT.21.1912.

Patented Deo. 8, 1914.

3 SHEBTS-BHE`ET 2.

E. A. EWING. CLUTCH. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.21. 1912.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

yff/frwscs: IM fr Umrnn srarns Para OFFICE.

EDGAR A. EWING, 40F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO HAR/BECK MOTORS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION F ILLINOIS.

CLUTCH.

Application led September 21, 1912.

v citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, in the county of Cook and State `of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Clutches, of which the following is a specification.

Thisl invention ielates to improvements in clutches, and more particularly to that type of clutch known as the marine clutch.

An object of the invention is to provide a marine friction clutch, easily operated, and in which the axial thrust or pressure from the driven propeller shaft will be utilized automatically to complete the necessary pressure or clamping action between the friction members ofthe clutch and retain these members in operative driving engagement, after a slight, initial pressure has been placed upon the friction members by a manually operated clutchlever. y

Other objects of the invention are to pio vde a clutch of the type above indicated, in

`which the coperating friction members y,will be automatically pressed tighter together, the reater the power transmitted k to the prope ler shaft from the engine, the

` friction members are movable axia pressure exertedbetween the friction members of the clutch being proportional to the thrust or pressure from the propeller; to provide a clutch in which the co )erating lly relatively to each other with means whieh'will move the members axially equally and evenly at all points around the axis of rotation, said means including a screw niember and to provide a clutchin which all the parts are soI arranged that any or all wear is substantially, automatically compensated for.

The invention furthermore consists in the improvements in the parts `and devices and in the novel `combinations of parts and devices herein shown, described or claimed.

In the drawings forming a art of this specification, Figure 1 is a horizontal, sectional view of a marine clutch embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a vertical, 1ongitudinal, sectional view of the structure shown in Fig. l, and taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are vertical, transverse, sectional views, taken respectively on the lines 3-3, lc-4 and 5-5 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 is a detail view, showing a part of the clutch lever and immediate Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

serial No. 721,528.

mechanism are inclosed, and which may be of any suitable form, that shown in the drawings comprising a lower member 10 adapted to be suitably secured to and supported by angle irons 11 or other support ing members of a launch and removably secured to the lower easing member 10 is an upper casing member 12. The casing or housing is provided with suitable front and rear journal bearings 13 and 14, in which are supported, respectively, the driving or engine shaft 15 and the driven or propeller shaft 16, the latter having an extended inner end 16 extending into a hollowed out inner end 15 of the driving shaft, a bearing sleeve 17 bein f interposed between the parts 16 and 15. lie driving shaft 15, as shown, is provided with a flange 18 by which the same may be coupled directly to another portion of the engine shaft. The propeller shaft 16 is similarly provided with a coilpling flange 19, formed on a sleeve 20, rigidly secured to the shaft 16. The shaft 16 is also provided with a flange or collar 11T, which is so located that the shaft may have a slight play longitudinally or axially in the ezcilrmg lll fora purpose hereinafter speci- For transmitting power from the one shaft to the other, the following means arel provided: Slidably keyed on the shaft 15 at its inner end is a sleeve or hub 21 having a flange 22, the latter being provided around its periphery with a plurality. of projections or dowel pins 23 adapted to slide back and forth in a plurality of coperating slots 2l formed in the periphery of an outer shell or disk holding member 25, the latter being provided with aA hub 26, rotatably` mounted on a sleeve member 27 rigidly secured to the shaft 16 and against a shoulder 16, a bearing sleeve 28 being preferably interposed between the hub 26 and sleeve 2T. The sleeve 27 is provided with a right angled rim portion 29, adapted to support and retain a number of friction disks 30, the rim 29 cooperating with the shell 25 and flange 22 to properly retain the disks B0 in position. The disks 30 comprise a number if@ memos of large or outer members and a corre spending number or small or inner ineinbers, the large and small disks being'alteinately arranged, the lai-ge. disks being slidably mounted on keys il secured in the Ysnell or disk holding member zo, and the small disks being similarly mounted on a plu- \raiity el' keys 252', secured in the rim. al) ol' the member 2, llroni the preceding der scrlption, it will be seen that upon sumcient ,pressure being applied to the llriction disks all, power will be transmitted trom the driving or engine shalt to the driven or propeiiershall, and lor placing an .initialslight pressure on these disks, the lollowing mecnanisni is employed, l

'ille housing or casing A. is provided with an inwardly` extending hub $525, in which is rigidly secured a nutlotatably mounted within the nut lll and. bodily, axially movable therein is a screw e, Lne latter being provided on its periphery with a segmental gear Sli which, as more clearly shown in ille. l, terms a portion or a worm thread having 25 its pitch parallel to that ol the screw threads 3T on the worm 35. Adapted to engage with the segmental gear rand thereby rotate the screw in either direction is a cooperating segmental gear Btl, secured to an arm lll) or the clutch operating lerer li), i the latter being pivotally mounted as at Iall. lnterposed between the .screw lo and the llange "2 is a thrust ball bearing ll, which may be olf any suitable or well known lorm, and for properly retaining the ball bearing and the members 22 and 555i in proper relation to each other, a clamp nut l2 is tlireaded onto the sleeve or hub 2l. llence it will be seen that the screw is rotated by lo moving the clutch. lever, the llange 12') will 4 be moved in a direction correspendingto the direction ol movement of the screw.

l `or reversing, any well known Ylorin ol reversing mcchanisn'i may be used although f5 the saine l'oi'u'is no part oill my invention, the reversing mechanism shown in the drawiiigv being illustrated and described merely for convenience in understanllling the use of the same in connection with my improvements. 5C' The iev'ersing mechanism which l have shown comprises a bevel gear -l-L secured to the shell or outer disk-*supporting` member 25, thi-ec` radially arranged, intern'iediate bevel gears il?) and a bevel gear Vvlll rigidly secured to a. llangle l5 shrunk on or other wisc secured 'to the shalt lll. lilach olE the l intermediate bevel gears -lS is mounted on a radially extendingr sha llt lli, secured to a hub fl?, loosely, rotatablyV mounted on the shalt in 1G, The outer ends of the shafts lll are secured in a friction rim i8, which is adapted to be preventei'l from rota tion when revers` ing' bv means ot a 'Friction band 'l-ll, the latter being,A fixed at one end, as shown at al), B5 and extendii'ig around the friction riin "i8,

and having its other end 5l yieldingly controileu, as ny means ol a spring on. Where over il; is desired to reverse Lne direction of .rotation or the propeller or driven shaft, the clutch lever -lu is moved to ti'ie position shown by dotted line, referenced l, in Hilf. l5, whereuimii the cani on the lever arm l) will engage a loosely mounted, band-operating lever ol which engages tne I'riction .band -iu at the point oa and is loosely ulci'unieo'. against an adjustable screw 5G. ln tei-posed bei. een the mange lo and the real` end or tlie easing or housing` A is a thrust ball bearing` l).

ln opera tion, the clutch works as follows: lfhe lever lll is moved to the forward position by the operator, which will cause they screw 5o 'to be rotated, which in turn will torce the l'lange ao'ainst tlie friction disks 3l) with just enough iorce to make the disks lightly engage each other, 'whereupon the propeller snalt will begin to "pick up or rotate, and as soon as rotation of the propeller shall is eonnnenced, a certain amount or pressure or thrust will be exerted along the propeller shaft in a direction toward the driving or engine shaft, and on account of the slight amount of play allowed for the propeller shalt, the saine will move inwardly and thereby force the sleeve or hub carried 4diereby lirmly against the friction disks 30, thus increasing the pressure on the friction disks, which pressurewill be constantly and automatically maintained so long as the power is being` transmitted to the propeller shalt. lvfhen it is desired to disengage the clutch, the clutch lever is moved back to its neutral position, which will rotate the screw 5.5 in a reverse direction, and the latter iu turn will withdraw' the sleeve or hul) 2l, carrying` the .ll-.inge 22, thereby loosening or disengaging the friction disks. 'lfhe pitch of lhe threads 37 on the screw is made such that the thrust exerted against it from the propeller shalt through the interinediary or the friction disks will not be able to l'orce the screw 35 backward into its sleeve nut '3l- When it is desired to reverse the rotation ot the propeller shaft, the

clutch lever is turned back to ils reverse position, which will still 'further withdr' W the llange :from engagement with the friction disks, and n hieh at the saine time will tighten the 'trictionloand 49, thus preventn ingi` the intermediate. bevel gears 43 from re- Ysolving about the shalt and causing the shalt 16 to rotate in a reverse direction in a 'well kn own' manner.

From the foregoing description, it Will be seen that a very slight exertion is required by the operator to throw the clutch into active operation, and that the greater propellervshaft itself, and also that when it is desired to disengage the friction disks or render the clutch inoperative, very little eX- ertion is necessary to return thel worm gear to its normal or neutral position. Further" more it will be noticed that any wear on the friction disks, which are the parts most subject to near, can be readily taken up by merely rotating the screw 255 slightly more than is ordinarily done when the clutch is first put into use.

.Although I have herein shown and described what I now consider to be the preferred form of the invention, yet it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and arrangements of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not limit myself to the precise structure shown and described, except in so far as defined by the claims appended hereto.

I claim l. In a clutch of the charaiizter described the combination of a driven element, a driving element, one of said elements being 1nov able axially relatively to the other, and means including a member independent of the axially movable element for placing said driven and driving elements in operative driving engagement, substantially as specified.

In a clutch of the character described the combination of a driven element, a driving element, one of said elements being movable axially relatively to the. other, and means including a rotatable threaded member movable axially and independent of the axially movable element for placing said driving and driven members in operative ldriving engagement, substantially as speci- 3. In a clutch of the character described the combination of a, driving element, an axially movable driven element normally movable, when driven, toward said driving element, and means for transmitting power from the driving to the driven element eomprising friction clutch .membersconnected respectively to the driving and driven elements so that the tendency of the driven Velement to move toward the driving element increases the tenacity of engagement between the clutch members, and means axially movable relatively to the driving clement and dissociated from the driven element for operating said clutch members, substantially as specified.

4. In a clutch of the character described the combination of a driving element, an axially movable driven element normally movable when driven toward said driving element, and means for transmitting power from the driving to the driven element eomprising friction clutch members connected respectively to the driving and driven elements the tenacity of engagement between the clutch members, and rota'table threaded.

means axially movable relatively to the driving element and dissociated from the driven element for operating said clutch members, substantially as specified.

5. In a clutch of the character described the combination of a driving shaft, a driven shaft disposed in alinement, said driven shaft being axially movable toward said driving shaft when driven by the driving shaft, and means for connecting said shafts comprising a housing providing bearings for the adjacent ends of said shafts, clutch members secured to the ends of said shaft within said housing and a rotatable element embracing said driving shaft and threaded into said housing :for moving the clutch member mounted on the driving shaft in and out of engagement with the clutch member mounted on the driven shaft and for holding the same in fixed position whereby the clutch members are first lightly engaged to start the driven shaft and are subsequently firmly held together with the thrust pressure of the driven shaft and may be disengaged by independent movement of the threaded member and clutch member on the driving shaft, substantially as specified.

6. In a clutch of the character described the combination of a driven element, a driving element, said driven element being relatively movable axially toward and from the driving element, clutch members connecting said elements and adapted to increase the tenacity of interengagement as the driven element moves toward the driving element, and means independent of the driven element for withdrawing said clutch members from interengagement, substantially as specified.

7. In a clutch of the character described, in con'ibination: a driving sha ft; a driven shaft; a sleeve provided with a flange slidably keyed to the driving shaft; a sleeve having a right angled rim 9() rigidly sc cured to the driven shaft; a plurality of friction disks interposed between said flange and said rim; a stationary sleeve nut; a screw rotatably mounted in said nut; a thrust ball bearing interposed between said screw and the flange; and means, manually operable, for rotating said screw, to thereby apply pressure to the friction disks, sub* stantially as specified.

8. In a marine clutch, in combination: an engine shaft; a longitudinally movable propcller shaft; and means for transmitting power from the engine shaft to the propeller shaft, including a member secured to and movable with the propeller shaft, a member keyed to and slidable on the engine move toward the driving element increases slia'fi'i, a plurality friction disks 'interposed between sai l members, and manually operated mechanism for moving said niem bers relatively reward eaeli other to plaee 'the friction disks in a light, initial engage ment, rlie thrust from the propeller' shaft, as the .latter rotates, servingl to automatieally increase the pressure on lie disks and thereby lirinly liolcl the same in operative, la driving engagement, subslaniially as speciieri.

il. in a eiuteli of the cliaraei'er described, in combination: a driving; shalt', a driven propeller shaft exerting pressure axially in l5 ay direction owarcl the driving shaft, said slie'i's'being relatively slirlabluv axially movable; cooperating relatively movable 'frio Lion clulcli elements inrerlmsed between tlie mvo sliaiirs; a n'ieinber carried by one of "7 Jl said sluifrs and axially movable tlierealong and aclapierl to exert; pr sure on said iric Lion elements; and means manually operable for so sliding said member to place saivl Afriction elements in an initial. relatively 25 light, iiriegienal engagement ivil'i eaeli "illlery "lie pressure from the driven slia'l't limone@ being thereafter utilized to automatically iii-- crease and maintain tlie pressure beULeen {,lie irietion members, substantially s specified.

'lO. Lin a marine clutch, in combination: a driving member; a driveir propeller sliat axially movable relatively to the driving member; cooperating relatively movable friction clutch elements interposed between said. driving lmember and the propeller shaft; a slidablyniounted member movable axially relatively to the propeller shaft and adapted to exert pressure on said friction elements; and means, manually operable, for so sliding Said last named member to tlieeby place the friction elements in an initial i'ietioiial engagemei'it, tl-ie pressure from the propeller shaft being thereafter utilized to automatically increase and maintain ;lie pressure between the friction elements, substantially as specified.

EDGAR, A, El/VING.

1ivliznesses PEARL Ammers, 'WILLIAM A. Gmonn. 

